Decision on teen’s trial delayed until February

Kim Smith

Thursday, Nov. 30, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

After 10 days of testimony from 28 witnesses and 180 exhibits, the preliminary hearing of a teen arrested in a series of rapes and home invasions wrapped up Wednesday.

But Justin Porter, 17, won't find out until February if he will be bound over for trial on 53 criminal counts.

The attorneys for both sides must wait for the hearings to be transcribed before they can file written arguments outlining their positions in the case. They will then be given a chance to respond to each other.

Police believe Porter invaded 13 homes between Feb. 1 and June 9. In six of the incidents, women were sexually assaulted, and a former monk was slain in a seventh.

Prosecutors Doug Herndon and Teresa Lowry originally wanted Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle to bind Porter over on 58 counts, but by the conclusion of the hearing they decided not to pursue charges in one of the home invasion-sexual assault cases.

The state's final two witnesses were DNA experts Dave Welch and Kathy Guenther. The pair testified Wednesday they were able to tie Porter to two sexual assaults through semen found during a sexual assault examination and on a towel found at one of the scenes.

All of the attacks took place in apartments in an area bordered by Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas Boulevard, Bonanza Road and Sahara Avenue. In most of the cases, the intruder gained entry by kicking in their front door.

Porter was questioned after he was spotted at 2:30 a.m. June 13 in the area of the assaults. As with other men matching the descriptions of the suspect, Porter was asked to supply a DNA sample from inside his mouth.

Two months later the DNA test results came back and Porter was arrested at his father's home in Chicago.